Manufacturing at Northvolt

At Northvolt, we’re developing lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity to support the shift to a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Powering a revolution

We believe that a responsible energy transition requires sustainable manufacturing of products and solutions. That's why we're committed to powering our plants with fossil-free energy, securing responsibly sourced materials and working with partners to identify, develop and implement sustainable solutions throughout the value chain.

We're several years into our mission to establish a sustainable battery manufacturing industry, and we're online at our first gigafactory in northern Sweden.

We're also in development with gigafactories in Germany and Canada. Behind it all, we operate Northvolt Labs — our hub for innovation, R&D and product development.

Building batteries

Battery manufacturing is a complex endeavor, requiring the highest levels of precision.

There are hundreds of process steps, but we can provide a simple overview by considering the following areas of the manufacturing flow.

Sourcing cathode

We source cathode active materials from trusted third-party suppliers. All suppliers are carefully vetted to ensure alignment with our high standards surrounding the environment and human rights.

Slurry mixing

We produce anode and cathode slurry in-house. While graphite is the key material in our anode slurry, we use nickel, manganese, cobalt (NMC) active material in cathode. Anode and cathode slurries are produced seperately. The thick liquid slurries are piped through to the next stage of manufacturing.

Electrode
manufacturing

Anode and cathode slurries are carefully coated onto thin metal foils to produce electrode. Anode is coated onto copper foil, and cathode onto aluminum. Both sides of the foils are coated and dried in large ovens before being prepared into large rolls.

Cell assembly

Electrode is cut to shape and sheets of anode and cathode are stacked alternately with separator material inbetween. This creates small packages, known as jelly-rolls, with positive and negative sides. The jelly-rolls are welded to a lid via current collectors, before being inserted into an aluminum can. The cell is welded shut and filled with electrolyte before proceeding to the next step.

Formation & Aging

Finally, we charge and discharge the cells many times over under carefully controlled conditions. These first charges are critical to ensuring high-performance and durability for the rest of the cell's life, and provide an important quality control check prior to cells being sent to customers.

Recycling

At our in-house recycling facilities, we recycle batteries and battery manufacturing waste to recover valuable raw materials, as well as copper, aluminium and plastics. The most valuable metals can be directed back into NMC cathode active material production.

Our facilities

Skellefteå, Sweden

Northvolt Ett

Our first gigafactory is located Skellefteå, northern Sweden and it's making deliveries to our automotive customers as we ramp up to 16 GWh/year capacity.

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Västerås, Sweden

Northvolt Labs

Our research & development facility is located 100 kilometers west of Stockholm. Northvolt Labs is comprised of multiple components which operate in concert to provide a fundamental platform for design, development and production of batteries.

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Heide, Germany

Northvolt Drei

Northvolt Drei is under development in Heide, Germany. Powered by renewable energy, Northvolt Drei will produce enough green batteries to power one million electric vehicles.

Montréal region, Quebec, Canada

Northvolt Six

Northvolt Six will be the country's first fully integrated battery manufacturing plant. The gigafactory will host cathode production, cell manufacturing and recycling.

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#manufacturing

15 March, 2021

Northvolt receives $14 billion battery cell order for Swedish gigafactory from Volkswagen

24 February, 2021

Northvolt acquires Cuberg to commercialize next-generation battery cells

10 December, 2020

A binary choice: Europe’s chance for a sustainable battery industry